On August 28, News1st reported on the government’s claims of partnering with reputed international universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to develop such a university in Sri Lanka.

News1st received confirmation from MIT that they had no plans to venture into such a project in Sri Lanka.

Today, News1st received confirmation from the University of California, Berkeley that this establishment also does not have any such agreement in place. The Executive Director Communications and Media Relations, Roque Montez writes:

“I want to be very clear that there is no agreement or commitment of any kind from UC Berkeley of MIT at this stage”

On August 3, the state run Daily News published an article titled “..PPP for Berkeley, MIT style campus here..“

The Daily News reported that the cabinet proposal in this regard has been made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, adding that the university would be set up under a public private partnership.

Similar claims of international partnerships have been made in the past. In January this year, News1st began reporting on a vehicle assembly plant in Kuliyapitiya which members of the ruling party claimed would be linked to German Auto Maker Volkswagen.

However, News1st revealed Volkswagen International had no plans for Volkswagen brand investments in Sri Lanka.It was also revealed that Volkswagen had not licenced any Sri Lankan company to assemble cars locally.

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